Disposable unit dose medication container



United States Patel References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,933,468 10/1933 Abbot 2,026,171 12/1935 Heymann 215/1.5X 2,200,395 5/1940 Lobl 150/8 2,670,871 3/1954 Spiess et al. 128/272X 2,858,016 10/1958 Marano 220/69X 3,302,644 2/1967 Kennedy et al U 128/222 3,434,620 3/1969 Laurizio 220/385 FOREIGN PATENTS 884,473 7/1953 Germany .1 206/ 1 Primary ExaminerDalton L. Truluck AIt0rney-McClure and Millman ABSTRACT: A disposable unit-dose medication container having a tear0pen top spaced below the top edge of the container and a hinged closure at its bottom permitting a measured charge of medicament to be inserted therethrough and subsequently enclosed therein rendering the container nonrefillable and nestable both in the open and filled condition.

Patented Oct. 20, 1970 Sheet of 2 I I I.

nvmvme, BOWL f) M. MA'YHS BY Patented 0a. 20, 1970 Sheet x a w M/VE/VTO/E 200/14 M MFYEPS ATTORA/EX IDISPOSABLE UNIT DOSE MEDICATIGN CGNTAINER This invention relates to a tamper-proof disposable unitdose medication container.

A unit-dose container is one which contains a measured amount of medicament which a nurse or other person can feed to the patient without the necessity of herself measuring out the dose. The dose must be exact and when the drug is dispensed from the container, the latter must be non-refillable, i.e. nonreclosable to serve as a guarantee that an untampered dose as originally packaged has been dispensed. The primary object of this invention is to provide a unit-dose. tamper-proof container which meets these requirements yet is an acceptable vehicle from which to administer the medication directly to the patient without the need to transfer the medicament to another container before presenting it to the patient.

Another object of the invention is to provide a unit-dose container which can be fabricated inexpensively and can be stored compactly because it is capable of being nested both in the open and filled conditions.

Another object of the invention is to provide a unit-dose container which will enable an individual pharmacist to produce unit doses of medication at will and in any quantities comparable to those containers now produced by expensive automated sealing methods.

The foregoing advantages are obtained from a container, preferably a cup, having a lid which is spaced below the top edge thereof and a pull tab associated with the lid whereby the lid can be torn open at or closely adjacent the inner surface of the peripheral wall of the cup, when one is ready to administer medicament, a bottom with a filling opening therein, a closure flap hinged to the cup below the bottom and means carried by the closure flap to sealingly plug up the opening and lock the closure in place after a measured amount of the medicament has been inserted in the cup through the filling opening.

These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent as the following description proceeds in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. I is a vertical-sectional view through the container showing the closure flap in position just prior to locking;

FIG. .2 is a view similar to FIG. ll showing the fully locked position of the closure flap and a medicament in the container; FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view taken from line 35-33 of FIG. 2; FIG. d is an enlarged detail of the area designated 4 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged detail of the area designated 5 in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a vertical-sectional view of the container in the inverted condition ready for filling;

FIG. 7 is an elevational view showing the nesting of the containers when empty;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical-sectional view of the bottom of the container showing a modified form thereof;

FIG. 9 is a vertical-sectional view of a second modified form of container;

FIG. II) is an enlarged fragmentary vertical-sectional view of the bottom of the container showing a third modified form thereof; and

FIG. 11 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical-sectional view of the bottom of the container showing a fourth modified form thereof.

Specific reference is now made to the drawings in which similar reference characters are used for corresponding elements throughout.

The container is generally indicated at ill and while it is shown in the usual inverted frustoconical form it will be understood that other forms may be used within the purview of the invention. The container may be fabricated of suitable plastics, such as polyethylene, polystyrene, etc., lightweight metals such as aluminum, paper laminates, foil, etc.

The container includes a circumferential downwardly tapered wall 12 terminating in a free top edge 14 and a free bottom edge 16. Approximately half way down from the top edge in is a solid lid l8 which is integrally formed with the interior surface 2d of the wall 12 but, as seen more particularly in FIG. i, the upper and lower faces of the lid at or closely adjacent the interior surface 20 are provided with circumferential grooves 22 and 24 forming therebetween a weakened circumferential area or zone 26. Since the weakened zone represents material of lesser thickness than that of the lid it self, it will be understood that the weakened zone may be formed by the use of one groove only or any other means. Integral with the lid lit at or adjacent the weakened zone 26 is an upstanding tab 28 which extends for a short distance above the top edge Id of the container. Thus to open the container after it has been filled as will appear hereinafter, one grasps the free edge of the tab and pulls up and around thus causing the lid 18 to rip off at the circumferential weakened zone 26 leaving little or no protuberance on the inner surface Pill of the wall to hold back any liquid medicament as the patient drinks from the cup. The foregoing construction is common to all forms of the invention shown.

Coming now to the form of the invention shown in FIGS. 1- -7, it will be seen that a predetermined distance above the bottom edge to, the container includes an integral bottom wall 3'1) with a central filler opening 32. A closure flap lid is provided whose diameter approximates that of the bottom wall Bil. The closure flap is hingedly attached as at 3'96 for the relatively short portion of its circumference to the inner surface of the skirt portion 3% of the wall ill of the container which extends below the bottom wall 3%. Any suitable means may be employed to effect this hinge attachment as, for example, a groove it) in the closure flap 34 or wall 12. of the skirt portion 38 to provide a narrower neck portion 32 attaching the closure flap to the wall.

Frotrnding centrally from the inner surface 44!- is a plug 46 having a neck portion 4% whose diameter approximates that of the filler opening 32 and an enlarged head 50 which is larger in diameter than the opening 32, the head having a curved outer surface 52. Extending inwardly from the wall 12 of the skirt portion 33 below the bottom wall Bill at spaced points are protruding lugs 54 each having an inclined cam surface 56 and an upper locking ledge 5'8. The outer surface oil of the closure flap 34 is preferably curved.

In use the unfilled containers are nested by inserting one container into the next until the bottom edge 16 of the one container lies adjacent the lid 18 of the next container as shown in FIG. 7. In this arrangement each closure flap is confined within the skirt portion Eltl but is not locked into the bottom wall 30. The nesting arranged after the containers have been filled with a unit charge of medicament is the same as in FIG. '7 except that the closure flap is locked in place.

To fill each container it is held in an inverted position as shown in FIG. 6 and the closure flap 3 is opened until it abuts the wall 12 of the skirt portion 38 to thus expose the filler opening 32. To provide sufficient clearance for ease of filling, the portion 62 of the wall of the skirt portion 38 abutted by the closure flap is preferably flexibly attached to the remainder of the wall 12 either by making that portion 62 thinner or by providing a groove 64 where the portion 62 joins the remainder of the wall 12, see FIGS. 5 and 6, so that the portion as and the closure flap flex outwardly as seen particularly in FIG. 6.

After a measured amount of a liquid or solid medicament is poured into the container through the opening 32, the flap 34 is closed and pushed down until the plug as snaps into the hole and assumes the position shown in FIG. 2. In so doing the peripheral edge as of the flap rides over the cam surfaces 56 of the lugs 5 i and snaps over the ledges 5% thereof. This creates a tight closure which renders it virtually impossible to reopen the closure flap and refill the container, the curved surface as of the flap acting to add to this difficulty.

To administer the medicament, the lid I8 is removed by pulling up and around by means of the tab 28 which leaves virtually no bead on the inside surface of the container. If the medicament charge is liquid, the patient can drink directly from the container. If it is solid and water must be added, this can be done just before the patient is presented with the container.

In the modification shown in FIG. 8, a layer of pressure sensitive adhesive 68 can be provided on the inner surface 44 of the closure flap 34 around the plug 46 or the outer surface 70 of the bottom wall 30 so that when the flap is in its fully locked position the adhesive will effect a more liquid-tight seal.

In the modification shown in FIG. l0, the closure flap 34 is provided with a central plug 72 which has an upwardly tapered neck 74, an enlarged head 76 and a curved outer surface 78 on the head. The bottom wall 30 of the container is formed with a central filler opening 80 which is tapered to correspond with the neck 74 and an annular lip 82 which fits into a similar groove 84 on the underside of the plug. Thus when the plug 78 is pushed through the tiller opening 80, the annular lip 82 of the bottom wall 30 will snap into the groove 84 on the underside of the plug to create a very tight tamper-proof closure which cannot be reopened once the container has been filled.

In the modification shown in FIG. 11, the bottom wall 30 includes an upwardly extending tapered collar 86 having inwardly opening vertically spaced notches 88. The closure flap 34 is provided centrally with a plug 90 which is tapered similarly to the collar 86 and includes vertically spaced notches forming protuberances 92 which correspond to the notches 88. Thus after the container is filled with the medicament, the flap 30 is closed and pushed in until the plug 90 passes fully through the collar 86. In so doing the protuberances 92 of the plug fit into the notches 88 of the collar and since the notches and protuberances are downwardly and outwardly inclined, reopening of the flap is rendered most difficult.

The modification of FIG. 9 represents a container construction with a side filler opening. Below the lid 18, the wall 12 of the container at one point is inwardly indented or dished out as at 94 to form an annular wall 95 and a vertical wall portion 96 which joins a horizontal solid bottom wall 98. The vertical wall portion 96 has a central filler opening 100. A closure flap 102 is provided which is hinged for vertical movement as at 103 to the juncture of the wall 12 and the annular wall 95, the flap having a central plug 104 of the type previously shown and described, and the wall 95 having inner camming lugs 106 similar to lugs 56 previously shown and described. Thus the medicament is filled by pouring it into the chamber 108 via the opening 100 and when the closure fiap 102 is pressed in until it snaps behind the lugs 106 and the plug 104 enters the opening 100, the container is effectively locked. Because the closure flap 102 is retained within the confines of the recess 94, these containers can be effectively nested, filled or unfilled.

While preferred embodiments of the invention have here been shown and described, it should be understood that skilled artisans may make minor variations without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

[claim 1. A disposable single unit dose medication container comprising a cup-like member having a circumferential wall and an open top, a lid fixed to said circumferential wall below the top edge, manually operable means to tear open said lid, a bottom wall fixed to said circumferential wall forming a medicament compartment between said lid and said bottom wall, a filler opening in said bottom wall, a closure flap hinged to said circumferential wall and means carried by said flap adapted to enter and lockingly close off said filler opening after medicament has been inserted therethrough, said means to close off said filler opening including a plug adapted to pass through said filler opening, and at least one lug carried by said circumferential wall including an inclined cam surface and a ledge spaced beneath said bottom wall, said cam surface engaging said flap when it is moved towards said bottom wall and said ledge engaging the outer surface of said flap when said plug has closed off said tiller 0 eni ng.

2. The combination 0 claim 1 wherein said means to tear off said lid includes a weakened zone in said lid at its periphery and a tab extending vertically upwardly from said lid.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said means to close off said filler opening includes a plug having a neck portion approximating the diameter of said filler opening and an enlarged head adapted to pass through said filler opening.

4. The combination of claim 3 and a layer of pressure sensitive adhesive carried either by the outer surface of said bottom wall or the upper surface of closure flap to effect a seal between said surfaces after said plug has closed off said filler opening.

5. The combination of claim 3 wherein said bottom wall is spaced above the bottom edge of said circumferential wall to form a skirt portion in which said flap can be confined in an open position when said containers are invertedly nested.

6. The combination of claim 5 wherein a portion of the circumferential wall of said skirt portion is flexibly attached to the remainder of said circumferential wall so that said flap can engage said flexible portion and bend it back to allow for sufficient access to said filler opening.

7. The combination of claim 1 wherein said filler opening is upwardly tapered and said bottom wall includes an annular lip around said opening, said means to close off said filler opening including a plug having a tapered neck and an enlarged head adapted to pass through said filler opening with said neck filling said opening, said head including a groove receiving said annular lip.

8. The combination of claim 1 wherein said filler opening is the upwardly tapered bore of a collar whose inner surface includes vertically spaced notches, said means to close off said filler opening including a tapered plug with vertically spaced protuberances adapted to engage said notches when said flap is pushed against the outer surface of said bottom wall.

9. A disposable single-unit-dose medication container comprising a cup-like member having a circumferential wall and an open top, a lid fixed to aid circumferential wall below the top edge, manually operable means to tear open said lid, and a bottom wall fixed to said circumferential wall forming a medicament compartment between said lid and said bottom wall, a filler opening in said circumferential wall beneath said lid, a closure flap hinged to said circumferential wall and means carried by said flap adapted to enter and lockingly close off said filler opening after medicament has been inserted therethrough, said circumferential wall between said lid and bottom wall including a recess having a vertically extending wall portion spaced inwardly of said circumferential wall, said filler opening being provided in said vertically extending wall portion of said recess, said closure flap being hinged to said circumferential wall in said recess and including a plug adapted to extend through said filler opening, said recess including an annular wall portion including at least one lug having an inclined cam surface and a ledge spaced from said vertically extending wall portion of said recess, said cam surface engaging said flap where it is moved towards said vertical wall portion and said ledge engaging the outer surface of said flap when said plug closes off said filler opening.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent 3,534,736 Dated October 20, 1970 Inventor-(s) Rnrhppi/l Mpypr It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 4 line 21, "3" should read l line 63, "where" should read when Signed and sealed this 27th day of April 1971.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. WILLIAM E SCHUYLER, JR. Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents I 0,5. GOVIRIIMINT PIINIIIIG OFFICE IDCI 0-300-334 

